Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Q: Gurudev, I am living in a phase in which I am allowing my emotions to take over me, and I am aware of this. Otherwise, I feel they get suppressed. Am I on the right path?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Emotions are such that sometimes you should abstain from them, and sometimes you should express them. You can’t take extreme views here. You cannot always suppress your emotion and you cannot always keep expressing your emotion. Both will bring you difficulties and trouble.If you always suppress your emotion you will be in trouble. If you always keep expressing your emotions, then also you will be in trouble and you will put others also in trouble. That’s why emotions should be streamlined through wisdom. When there is wisdom then you know which emotion to express and which not to express. And where you should express, and where you should not.

Suppose you are at a funeral service of somebody, then you can’t say, ‘Oh, I am so happy’, and keep jumping! People will feel like slapping you. You may be happy but you cannot express that.Similarly, if you are sad and there is a wedding party or reception happening, you can’t go and say, ‘I am so sad’. People will not like to see you sad as they are celebrating. You will spoil the whole atmosphere.So you have to use your discrimination - where, when, how you must express your emotions and where it is not wise to do so.

Q: Gurudev, one cannot experience God through the senses because He is beyond the senses. But how can he be felt? Isn’t he beyond feelings and emotions? How can God be known if he is unknowable?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You can only be still and be one with God, and that is the skill of meditation. You should listen to Ashtavakra Gita.

Q: Gurudev, Sanjay reported to Dhritharastra (of all the happenings of the Mahabharata war), do you think we could get back to those siddhis of staying at home and knowing what was happening in the world. This would make my life much easier as I am a reporter.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

The brain has invented something called the cell phone. You can stay at home and get all the information on the cell phone. You simply have to keep it charged. In the same way, if you charge your spirit, your intuitive ability will get enhanced and you will get the right intuition at the right time. You need to attend to that.

Yoga and meditation is a must for a reporter because for a reporter there are two important things:1. Your perception needs to be sharp, and2. Your expression needs to be clear and eloquentYoga and meditation gives you both of this.

Q: Gurudev, across the world yoga is a billion dollar industry, India now has a Minister for yoga too. Could you list out what India should do to become the crest jewel of yoga once again?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

We need to have a quality control in yoga; anyone cannot say anything and call it yoga. All yoga teachers should do certain hours of the practice of yoga each day.Today someone attends a yoga class for a week and then they become yoga teachers. They can’t move their body but they instruct others to move their bodies. They can’t sit still for 10 minutes, and they talk about meditation to others.If you cannot sit still for a few minutes, how can you teach meditation? Walk the talk and talk the walk should be the slogan for a yoga teacher, and they should have a thorough training on yoga.

It is good that the Government of India has come up with quality control measures in yoga. They are designing methods and setting up standards to certify yoga teachers, and this is necessary.It was the same with Ayurveda. There is a joke between the Ayurvedic doctors. They say, “Yasya kasya taroh mulam yena kena api gharshitam | yasmai kasmai pradatavyam yat va tat va bhavishyati”.(The root of this or that tree - mixed with something or the other, given to someone or the other will cause anything! )This is what was happening in Ayurveda. But, in the past few years the Government has standardized the practice, the medicine, and the doctors. I wouldn’t say that the education on Ayurveda is the best, it has to improve a lot. There are doctors who have finished their education in Ayurveda and don’t know how to take nadi diagnosis (pulse reading). It needs improvement, but at least some standard has come.

In the same way, if someone wants to teach yoga they should know about the nature of the mind, about the patterns of breath, about the seven layers of existence, then they can become good yoga teachers.

Q: How can the true nature of a person be known?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Why do you want to know the true nature of another person? Know your own nature, that is good enough. Don’t sit and judge others, you never know! If your time is good your enemies become friends, and if your time is bad then your closest friends will behave like enemies. That is why, focus on yourself, and don’t judge others.

Q: Gurudev, how will you guide the modern youth who want to join politics for the betterment of our country?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

First, you do your sadhana and broaden you vision.

Second, you need to have enormous patience. You go with a big vision and there are all chances that your vision is squashed and smashed and it may reach a point that you will want to throw it away. But, don’t lose heart.You may have to face disappointments one hundred times, but the 101th time you will succeed, but for this you need to have patience and perseverance. You should hold onto your vision and your ethics.

Third, never forget your spiritual side. Whatever work you have and however busy you are, take that much needed 4-5 days for a silence program once in a year. Take 20 minutes every day to sit and listen to knowledge and meditate. This will keep your energy up.

As a politician be careful about two things:1. Money2. SexThese are the two things with which people can create scandals about you. You have to be careful not to be maligned. It is very easy to be maligned and then you will waste all your time in proving these false allegations. Better be careful from the very beginning as these are the two areas that can create scandals against you.In the field of politics, when you are moving ahead, there are a hundred people trying to pull you down. So as a young, enthusiastic aspirant, you have to be very clean on these areas.

Another point is, don’t make politics a profession, it should be your mission. If it is your mission, you get enormous strength, energy and enthusiasm. But if you make it a profession you will have to experience a lot of wear and tear. So, keep these points in mind.

Q: Gurudev, we have the Rudra Puja and Vishnu Puja in our tradition, but why is it that we do not have any practice of Brahma Puja (worship of Lord Brahma)?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Well, that is because Lord Brahma’s task of creating the Creation is over (laughter). Lord Brahma is present in Lord Shiva, and Lord Brahma is also present in Lord Vishnu. He (Lord Brahma) resides in everything. So when you worship Lord Vishnu, you are also worshipping Lord Brahma. The essence is to see that One Divinity in everyone and everything, and to also see everyone and everything as a part of the Divine. This is the point.

There is a term called as Brahmavadin. One is Lord Brahma, the other is the Brahman (the formless, eternal, all-pervading One Consciousness or Divinity). Do not confuse the two. There are no puja rituals to be done for the Brahman, that is the Paramatma or the One Divinity. You can only contemplate and meditate upon the Brahman. In order to prevent people from getting confused between Lord Brahma and the Brahman and treating formless Divinity as an object or deity of worship, our ancestors may have made a distinction between Lord Brahma and the Brahman.

Q: Gurudev, many incidents or stories narrated in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata seem difficult to believe. For example, did Lord Hanuman really jump across the vast ocean? Are these real stories, a poet’s imagination or just literal metaphors indicating some deeper meaning? How do we understand this?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

See, even today you have people who are sailing around the world. Isn’t it? If people can sail around the world today, do you not think someone could have also done it in those ancient days? All possibilities exist.It is also said that Lord Hanuman rested on the rocks here and there. So it is possible that he could have jumped the vast length of the ocean. Monkeys are very able in jumping, and you can never tell where it will go or where it will jump next.

Q: Gurudev, I do my sadhana regularly, attend satsang and do seva also. Yet there are many times in life when I am unable to make proper decisions. Why does this happen?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

See, there are two main reasons why you are unable to take decisions.1. When there is some feverishness of desire attached to it; or there is some greed. Then you find it difficult to take a decision2. When there is some fear in you, then also you are not able to take proper decisions. The mind gets stuck in between greed and fear, due to which we remain in confusionSo just get rid of the fear and the greed. That’s it!

Q: Gurudev, I am in a dilemma whether to continue working here in India, or take up a job offer that I have in Toronto. Please advise.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

See, there is no point in asking me these personal questions, such as, “Where should I go?” “What should I eat?” “Where should I work?” etc. Just remember this – the choice is yours and blessings are mine. My blessings are always there. But I cannot go on deciding things for everybody. You have all been blessed by nature with a brain, so use that to make your choices – and I will give you my blessings.If you find it difficult to make choices, then I suggest you meditate. You have come to the right place. After meditation, the mind becomes settled, joyful, and all confusion disappears and you get more clarity. After that whatever decision you take, just walk ahead and follow it whole-heartedly.